Boardman House Inn Bed & Breakfast — Hotel in East Haddam

I had a very disappointing 2 night stay at The Boardman House. I was in town for a couple of social gatherings. This lodging is advertised as "elegant". Trip Advisor rates this place 4.5. This rating is unwarranted. The building is beautiful. The living room and my bedroom had lovely furnishings. But its a "cold" place. As mentioned in an earlier note, it is a bed and no breakfast. Furthermore there is no hospitality. I saw one guest my first night in the living room. The 2nd day, I saw no one during the day, and no one at night. I heard nothing from the Host. This as a chilling experience for me, something I have never encountered. I have stayed in many Inns and B&B, and I've stayed in a few during the pandemic. I have had no contact entry experience during the pandemic. I expect, and have received REAL coffee, not instant coffee. (The 2nd day it was "donut coffee"). I also expect breakfast, or something very simple like a muffin or croissant. This could easily have been served on the porch or in the garden. And I expect some kind of contact with the host. I also expect a room with a closet. My room had 4 hangers hanging on the wall, but no closet. Furthermore, there was no iron, ironing board, or hairdryer. The lack of basic "amenities" really upset me as I was preparing to go to a party.

I guess I'm really mad at myself. I have relied upon the Trip Advisor rating for booking INNs and B&B's. I read the description of the Inn and it mentioned it was Elegant and Trip Advisor rated it 4.5. So I booked the Inn. I should have read Reviews.

Trip Advisor, please update your review system for this B&B. It's not a B&B, not even an INN. It's a Boarding House. I think if I knew this was an elegant Boarding House, and my room did not contain the basics, and I would not see the hosts, and I might be completely alone in a very large building, I could have made a better decision about where to stay, and I would not have...

First time here, for a wedding right up the road, close to the Godspeed and gelston house - appears to be the "center" of everything - not much else around but great views and accommodations, as mentioned no breakfast here so plan ahead - dunkin and a few places right up the road and delivery, fridge in main room when you first walk in as well as a coffee maker, best if you have the whole house, in my opinion, as we did, I think except one room that may have been already booked, cozy, stairs are a bit rough if you stay on the top floor if you have issues maneuvering stairs but really can do everything on first floor without issue parking in back also tough on stairs from main entrance if you have issues. That said it is a historic house and beautiful in and out, it is a historic mansion as mentioned so don't go in thinking room service etc.... Great place to stay and delivery available for food, nice wine shop across the road, everything in town a short walk all pretty much right there and drive to other attractions, again its not Disney land but quaint and charming. We stayed in the queen room top floor again all we needed for the 2 night stay, the bride and groom stayed in the Garden room very nice first floor and nice porch over looking the backyard/garden area. Keepers were hands off which I prefer, we had our keys and instructions for parking left for us and room had newer re-modeled bathroom heated floors very nice, we had the keepers cell and from what I read here they are on the property - I am sure if we needed something it would be attended to, no closet in our room which again not a big deal just mentioning, chest of drawers for storage overall very nice and we...

Joined a friend for a quick one-night stay at the Boardman House while in the area. Both of us enjoy exploring historical lodgings, so from the photos, this looked to be a perfect fit. As some have mentioned, it's important to note that this is not a true Bed AND Breakfast. While this was reiterated at many stages of the booking process, it does feel like a bit of a misrepresentation keeping the word "breakfast" in the name.

After checking in and getting settled in our room we located a pair of socks crumpled up at the foot of our bed that neither of us could claim. We could only assume they belonged to the previous occupant immediately making me question the cleanliness boasted about in so many other reviews. We were excited to find a Roku remote in our room. However, there was no remote included for the TV, so annoyingly all volume adjustments had to be done by hand. Additionally, the mattress on the bed in our room was uncomfortable and sagging, leading to a broken and painful night of sleep.

All in all, for anyone interested in the history and architecture of the place this might be worth a one-time stay solely to admire the bones of this charming old house currently functioning as a hotel of sorts. However, I cannot say we were particularly impressed by the service or hospitality offered by this establishment. While the property is clearly charming, the only thing "elegant" we found about it was...